AIM

MSN

Website URL

ICQ

Yahoo

Jabber

Skype

Location

Interests

RPG Biography

Current games

Location

Blurb

I've got a detailed map of Volsaxiland I use for my campaign I thought I'd share... Locations are chiefly from the Dragon Pass gazetteer, the Guide and Atlas. It's a little messy since I work by hand. The base map is the old Holy Country map from the RQ Companion - it was just sparsely detailed enough to be able to fit all my scribbles.

The Westfaring ‘following the Trail of the Dead’:
1. Encounter with Lhankor Mhy[1] and Issaries. This may have been somewhere around Dorastor or Lakrene[2]. It may have been on or near a mountaintop, as Orlanth is still flying to reach the West. It has been plausibly argued that Lhankor Mhy was a Sorcerer. Issaries had similar Western connections and is venerated as St. Ashara in Maniria.
There is also the somewhat disturbing possibility that Dorastor originally had primeval connections to Knowledge and Sharing, and thus was an ideal spot for the rebirth of Nysalor.
Issaries Town was in Dorastor before the Bright Empire.
Another possible site of importance for this event is Eneal, where was ‘the Temple of the Truth of Lhankor Mhy’ in a Vingkotling hill fort, and the nearby City of Ten Thousand Magicians, a centre of sorcerous learning. Lakrene is home to many Garzeen merchants [GtG I, p.342]. However, Lhankor Mhy is most likely connected to Lankst, a region of northern Ralios inhabited by Kachisti who were freed from Sorcerous rule by Orlanth himself. The Hero-paths of the Lightbringers passed through Lankst (GtG I, p.388).
2. The Lightless/Dead Forest/Nightwood and battle with Konagog and Vonagog. Orlanth is on foot because Eurmal had stolen his flying boots. This was a sleeping forest that covered nearly all of Ralios west of Delela.
[Parntor was ‘out hunting during the Sword and Helm War’ and thus survived it, though all of his brothers were killed. He was seeking the Doe Woman in ‘the lands where a cold wind always blew, and summer was like a day of ours’ [BoHM, p.120]. If she was one of the Galinini, this was probably northern Ralios, that is the Deadwood where Orlanth, LM, and Issaries were.]
After he lost his Air Rune, Orlanth, interestingly, was able to proceed out of his sacred territory, that is, the mountaintops, and enter the lowlands of Ralios.
[Estali in Ralios has sacred connections to Lhankor Mhy and to the Great Green Lady [Ernalda]]
Orlanth was equated with the Ralian god Humat in the First Age (c.180).
In Delela Orlanth fought the trolls at Voran’s Hill. Presumably they halted their hostilities to fight Chaos afterwards.
3. Alliance with Shankgaro of Hakiliv and the Uz near Hankarantal ‘where the cliffs cannot be scaled’ [in Ralios, Rockwood Mountains] against Chaos/ the ‘lesser Kajaboorings’. The Trolls recount a ‘great victory’ against Kajabor and Wakboth led by Zorak Zoran[3] near Hrelar Amali later in the Age of Chaos [see Trollpak, Uz Lore, p.9]. In the GtG, this is called ‘Hate Kills Everything’. ZZ killed Krjalk here, or cut him into a million pieces.
4. Encounter with Chalana Arroy and Flesh Man [Eneral the Old in Dangkae myth]. Flesh Man leads them after Eurmal; because Flesh Man was insane he could discern Eurmal’s route. Flesh Man may be Orlanth himself stripped of his divinity. Note that Hrelar Amali is where Eurmal killed Flamal and sacrificed his wooden body to make the first campfire, saving Humankind. But for this he was sentenced to death, and Orlanth and CA had to rescue him from that...
Chalana Arroy is possibly identical to Xemela, the mother of Hrestol, who shares many features with her, as well as a similar geography (Seshnela). Xemela ‘sacrificed herself’ to heal her sick people.
Chalana Arroy/Xemela is yet another ‘solution to sickness/starvation’ hero.
5. Rescue of Eurmal at Sorcerer’s Town. This appears to be Frowal.
6. Meeting with Ginna Jar at the Western Ocean; here the Lightbringers, unable to fly or leap, had to find a way across the sea. Orphalland, the far western tip of Sheshnela, has a link to Orlanth – there is the sacred tomb of the demigod Damol, ‘lord of the West’ and son of ‘Aerlit’ an Air god – Aerlit being in fact also described as the father of Malkion in Wyrm’s Footnotes.]
[1] From context, this is after the Spike was destroyed in 1042 B.D., though Lhankor Mhy was with Orlanth and Issaries at the battle against Chaos near Hrelar Amali (1350 B.D.). This one of the significant chronological disjunctions in this analysis.
[2] The Lakrene Storm God is Matu, which is an eroded form of Umatum or Umath. He is associated with Mount Matu in the Yolp Mountains, which may be the site of Umath’s dismemberment by Jagrekriand/Shargash, which inclines me to think that Orlanth may have challenged Shargash there and lost Mastakos in the Yolp Mountains.
[3] Zorak Zoran, also called Zolan Zubar and Hellwind, is initimately connected to Orlanth, though most would be loathe to admit it. We may compare the tribal name Solanthi. The Enerali claim that Zolan is the twin of Anehilla, the Blue Moon.

To celebrate some work successes, my wife wishes to celebrate the occasion, by giving me some hobby funds -- with this money I was seriously contemplating picking up the six map pack, ideally to mount on the wall, as well as possibly the 24 map set of the entire Gloranthan world. I wanted to see what the opinions were of the maps, and there usefulness (primarily the 12x18 maps) in gaming, for those who have purchased them. I have searched online and haven't seen much talk of them. I ask as I know the PDF of the Atlas (which I own) are not vector based and using zoom doesn't net the best result.
Thanks!